ANALYSIS OF THE USUAL SUSPECT

OPENING SEQUENCE OF USUAL SUSPECT: 

The Usual Suspects is a 1995 American Crime thriller film. Following a truck hijack in New York, five conmen are arrested and brought together for questioning. The film follows the interrogation of Roger "Verbal" Kint, a small-time con man who is one of only two survivors of a massacre on a ship docked at the Port of Los Angeles.

To begin with, Keaton is the character we see the most. We are introduced to him during a business meeting he is in. He is wearing a suit in a fancy restaurant throughout the meeting. Keaton is the longest character on screen during the first scene. This could suggest he is the most dangerous man. He could also be seen as the main culprit or the man with the most power or superior.

However, “Verbal” is another character who seems to be extremely important. The reason for this is because he is also being a narrator; we are listening to his voice in the background during the interrogation and the first scene. Another reason for this is because he is also dressed quite smart and during the line up in the questioning he looks out of place - he doesn’t look like your typical violent criminal. He is also seen with some disabilities.

We are introduced to a character called Mcmanus – a man who is highly rude with a lot of tattoos. During the line up he is wearing a long leather jacket that makes him look like a criminal. He could be interpreted as the most violent or incredibly dangerous. One reason for this is because he we see this when the police break down his door to his 1 bedroom flat and put their guns really close to him. This could highlight that he is well known and a regular with the police department.

Another character we see is Fenster. From the interrogation and the line up, he could be seen as someone who is quite important as he is standing in the middle of the group; he is also wearing a suit and looks smart as if he is the main man with all the authority. Also we can see by the way he is stood during the interrogation and acts, it is as if he isn’t bothered and doesn’t care about being questioned ahead of this crime.

The last character we are introduced to is Hockney.  He can be seen as another vicious and violent character due to the fact that when he is arrested, the police come into a garage he is working in and as he sees them, he reaches under a car and the police rush over to him as they think he is going to pull out a gun. There are a lot of policemen to do this and then he says “Sure you brought enough guys”. This suggests he is violent and they may need more men to stop him.

There is serious and a hint of mysterious music which introduces the first antagonist. After we hear the gun being fired, the music becomes less sinister, which calms down the tone of the film and makes it less dramatic. When Keaton is arrested, the music changes to classy and light music, which is played by the harp. The reason the music is played this is because they are in a smart restaurant and he is in a business meeting. Therefore, it is a lot more formal and shouldn’t be dark or dramatic music.

ANALYSIS OF OPENING SEQUENCE IN SKYFALL

 Opening Sequence Of Skyfall:


From the opening seconds of Skyfall, we can tell the genre of the film is going to be an action/thriller film. The use of non-diegetic sound in the opening few seconds of the film  informs the audience that this scene will be dangerous and extremely serious.The lighting is also very dark which illustates that the scene is serious and could be dangerous with some violence involved. We then see that the camera tracks the main character who is evidently known as the hero. The reason we can tell he is the hero is because of the effect of the camera placed behind him. This demonstrates that he is in front of us, alone, protecting us like a hero would do.While, the camera is behind Daniel Craig we see a dead body in the background which highlights to the audience what else will be in the film, and that there will be more violent scenes to come. The use of the eyeline match is to show what a character is looking at. We see this editing, when we see Daniel Craig  looking at a computer hard drive and another item which has been stolen. After this event, we hear the use of digestic sound when we hear Ma'am voice-over speaking to James Bond through an ear piece. We find out something has been stolen through Ma'am speaking to him. During this mise-en-scene, we see the use of cross-cutting between James Bond in Istanbul, Turkey and Ma'am in London. This is used so we can see the contrast in countries and also to see what is happening at the same time in two different places. From this part we can tell there is a mission to find something out this creates an enigma to solve this solution. Aswell as, this symbolises once again that the genre of the film is an action/thriller film and we are going to see some more exciting, violent scenes throughout this film. Immediately, he walks out this dark building into the streets of Istanbul and we then hear the non-digest sound which represents a middle eastern country. After that, we then see James Bond picked up by Miss Moneypenny in the car. In this mies-en-scene he pulls out a gun which makes it a lot more serious swell as, the use of fast pace editing also emphasises the action taken place on the screen. While he James Bond is in the car he then takes over the wheel, which demonstrates his authority. Moments later when James Bond is out the car, the deep focus highlights his heroic status as he is foregrounded at the front with Miss moneypenny in the car. This is used to state how superior he actually is and so is seen as him at the front defending both of the just like a hero would do.

ANALYSIS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

ANALYSIS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES:

The first thing we identify are the main characters. These are the two characters on the front of the poster which stand out and are obviously the main characters of this film. Surrounding the two men are other characters we will be introduced to on in the film. On the right of Sherlock Holmes is a man with an aggressive and evil look on him and half of his face turning around. This demonstrates that he will be villain and the main criminal in this film. Just above this criminal we see on an old street light the number '221'. This is located on Baker Street in London, which a house numbers for one of the characters. We can also see a women with a slight sly look on her which suggests she could be in love  with one of the main characters.
Due to the clothing the characters are wearing, we can tell this film was based in the late 1800s. They are dressed smart, with a top hat, leather gloves, all which connotes the time period. It also connotes a sense of wealth and pride which some men had. We can also see this by their stance and facial expressions which illustrates they are superior.
In the back of the poster we can see a large steel frame which is usually situated in a prison or a police station. This highlights that this film will contain crimes, violence, criminals and investigations.

ANALYSIS OF SKYFALL POSTER

ANALYSIS OF SKYFALL:

The title is extremely effective for different reasons. To begin with, it is written in white to contrast the dark coloured background. This is effective as it makes the film of the title stand out which grabs the audiences attention. Another reason is that the title is in capital letters and a bold simple font to make it easy to read and clear to people who are only quickly viewing it. The colours used in this poster are kept incredibly simple and classy using just black and white. It looks very smart and sophisticated just like how Daniel Craig is dressed. Under the title we see the tag line of '007'. This is recognised all over the world as a 'James Bond' film so by people seeing this they will be intrigued to watch the new 'Bond' film.

Daniel Craig is clearly the main character. Firstly, he is the only character we see on the poster which evidently proves he is the main character.Secondly, he is wearing a smart suit and looks very professional suggesting his importance. The black contrast against the white in the background makes him look more superior and power which demonstrates he is the hero of the film. Lastly, we can see Daniel Craig also is holding a gun. The use of the gun makes it easy for the audience to establish the genre of the film which is a action/thriller film.

ANALYSIS OF PULP FICTION

Pulp Fiction: 


To begin with, the title is in bold letters and in capitals which automatically stand outs. Just above the title there is an award on the poster which is intriguing and makes us as an audience want to see it. Also below the title we can see the the writers name. This makes it more appealing to the audience and attracts people to his work. On the side of the poster we see a list of actors in bold, capital letters in order to captive viewers. It also helps the film sell due to the famous actors which star in the film.

The irony of of a typical innocent girl crossing her knees contrasted to the women wearing heels showing her lack of innocent due to the props and her costume. Her costume is a seductive dress which demonstrates conventions of her character and attracts male viewers because of her cleavage on show. The gun in the centre of the poster introduces the film and implies that blood and violence will be a recurring theme. The cigarette also shows the genre of the film and are typical elements of film noir. Due to the costume and the props we can see that this women is a femme fatale.

The dark theme of the poster, red and black forewarn the audience violent events will occur signifying the genre. Also, the price tag on the poster below the title is used to promote the film and sell it, because it is very cheap.

ANALYSIS OF FILM POSTERS

FILM POSTER ANALYSIS: 


In class we learnt how to denote film poster and the image. After we did the denotation we then connoted the meaning and the background of the image. We also analysed the font, style of writing, text to figure out information and the meaning of the film. From the analysis we could conclude what genre of film it could be.



Children Of Men:

From my first glance at the poster I connoted it was a hybrid film containing genres of Action, Sci-Fi Thriller. This is due to the tag line which states "This Year 2027". This highlights that it is in the future and therefore I was able to notice it was a Sci-Fi film. Another reason I can tell it is Sci-Fi is because its says "No child has been born for 18 years". This suggests other creatures could be involved which are Sci-Fi as they are  not any humans. Also the tag line is in bold red writing which stands out to the audience and because red is associated with blood and danger, the audience immediately know there will be death in this story. 


The dark grey of the poster carries connotations of ambiguity, however there is a contrast in the  colour, with a light that could be interpreted as a spotlight circled around the main characters face, which immediately symbolises that he is the most important character of the story. The character is embedded in glass, which can imply many different things. Firstly the cracks in the glass signify a broken society, which hints the storyline of the movie. The jagged glass near his neck can mean a threat of death again which gives the audience an impression of the movie genre. 

Clive Owen is standing behind the only part of the broken glass, which gives us  the impression that he is the hero in the story. His facial expressions show bravery and determination however the unshaven beard hints he is disheveled and shows lack of fatigue. His eyes are noticeably tired but yet the look on his face shows he will not give up.

About Myself

Hi,

I'm Josh Spivack and I'm 16 years old and I am currently doing my first year of A- Levels at JFS. I am taking Business, Media Studies and Politics.When I leave school, I would like to go to university and study Property and Finance as I want to go into a job to do with property, whether it is a developer, estate agent or on a specialist team. I chose to take Media Studies as an A-Level for many reasons. Firstly I would like to find out how to film a movie or music videos. Another reason is because I would like to know how the camera works and how different camera shots are used to create effect on a scene or clip.My favourite film is 'This Is The End'. The reason for this is because Seth Rogan acts in it and he is my favourite actor as I find him incredibly funny and entertaining. I play football twice a week for a Sunday league team and I play as a goalkeeper. I support Arsenal and I love watching them play. I have a season ticket so I watch them live most games and I also go to away games. I am also incredibly interested in music. My favourite genre of music of probably Rap and Grime but I also listen to other genres such as Chart and Rock. My favourite artists are, Kayne West, Tyler The Creator, Giggs and Stormzy. I like going to music festivals and live concert. I learnt how to play the drums at the age of 8 years old and i stopped at the age of 14. However, I still occasionally play them.